gracjan r Posted June 21 Report Posted June 21 Hello my name is gracjan, I have a huge request for help regarding a gunto katana. Could I ask for help in finding the blacksmith who forged it? How much might it be worth? And its history. Thank you very much in advance for your help and have a nice day.(: 1 1 Quote
ChrisW Posted June 21 Report Posted June 21 The nakago for such a young blade is also heavily compromised. He made both gendaito and showato so unless you get a window done, it may difficult to make the call of which it is. Condition is everything, so the value will suffer due to the poor state of preservation of the nakago and the blade itself Kanefusa is a 1st seat rikugen, and his blades are prized, so that is the upside. Value is hard to call due to the condition but good gendaito is decent old polish start around $2500. Showato in decent shape are about $1500. You won't see either of those values without restoration. You're unfortunately looking at not a lot past $500-600 as it sits. This blade might be worth putting in front of a trained Japanese sword polisher (togishi) for evaluation. But the nakago would probably put this in the "passion project" category. If its important to your family, see about restoration, keep it and treasure it. Regardless, do not do anything to the blade yourself except keeping the edge gently oiled with a light mineral oil or choji oil. 3 Quote
Rawa Posted June 21 Report Posted June 21 Maybe there is seki stamp under habaki but mei is only on one side. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted June 21 Report Posted June 21 Hi Gracjan! You can read about the history of the Type 98 Army officer gunto (Army sword) on Ohmura’s site- Military Swords of Japan Quote
mecox Posted June 22 Report Posted June 22 Gracja, this is probably a very early war sword made in Seki. The nakago (hilt) is badly rusted, and there are probably some extra kanji further up. It is likely to be: 濃州関住二十三代藤原兼房作之 Noshu Seki ju Nijusan Dai Fujiwara Kanefusa saku kore "Fujiwara Kanefusa 23rd generation of Seki, Mino (Noshu) made this. His family name was Kato and given name Koichi. A good quality smith. Maybe hidden up under the tsuba is a stamp (maybe a sakura flower?). 2 Quote
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